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< Back Phil Fontaine Phil Fontaine Sagkeeng Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Phil Fontaine was born at Sagkeeng (formerly Fort Alexander) in Manitoba, where his first language was Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin). At the age of six, Phil and his siblings were forcibly removed from their family home and required to attend Fort Alexander Residential School, in accordance with Canadian government policy of the time. While at Fort Alexander Residential School, Phil learned to skate and began playing hockey with the Fort Alexander Braves. He played with the team until age fourteen, when he was transferred to Assiniboia Residential School in Winnipeg. Known as an exceptional and fast skater, Phil was selected to the Winnipeg City All-Star Team, playing for the Southern Division for two consecutive seasons. He was later invited to try out for the Fort Frances Royals of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and played with the team briefly. Alongside his athletic pursuits, Phil earned his high school diploma and later graduated with a university degree in political science. He married and raised two children, Mike and Maya. At age 27, Phil became the youngest Chief at Sagkeeng and went on to serve as Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Throughout his political career, Phil used his leadership to expose the systemic abuses endured by Indigenous children in residential schools. He is widely recognized for his pivotal role in negotiating the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which provided compensation to survivors and led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Despite the demands of public office, Phil remained deeply connected to hockey. He played with the Sagkeeng Old Timers, members of the Canadian Old Timers Hockey Association, competing internationally from 1982 to 1988. The team won World Cup titles in Munich (1983) and Montreal (1987), as well as the COHA National Cup in 1988, and was honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Today, Phil serves as Special Advisor to Ishkonigan Inc., an Indigenous consulting firm he founded. He continues to follow hockey and enjoys travelling with his wife and spending time with his children and grandchildren. <Back

< Back Jesse Frankson Jesse Frankson Inupiaq Eskimo Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Jesse Frankson started training for the Inuit Games in 1997. He competed in the Native Youth Olympics (NYO) State competition for the one foot high kick and tied the state record as a senior in high school. He then started coaching NYO high school athletes for three years. He was selected for Team Alaska in 2002 and 2004 for the Arctic Winter Games, which is held Bi-annually in various parts of the world, where he set records for the Alaskan High Kick and the One Foot high Kick. Jesse went on to compete at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics in 2005 and 2006 with several games, four of which he set records in. The One Foot High Kick, Alaskan High Kick, Kneel Jump and the One Arm Reach, all of which he held at one time, something that to his knowledge, has never been done before or since. He also competed and won in the Two Foot High Kick, Scissor Broad Jump and Stick Pull. Jesse was one of a few athletes featured in Jonathan Stanton’s documentary Games of the North, also Guinness World Records which was featured on Fox in 2001, where he set the world record for the Highest Martial Arts Kick at 9’8”, in a televised competition against Martial Artist Michael Blanks. Jesse was born in Kotzebue, Alaska and raised in Point Hope, Alaska. His wife Krystle Frankson and he have six children. His parents are Theodore Frankson Jr. and Kristi Frankson. <Back

Kelvin Sampson <Back Lumbee Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach 2022 Kelvin Sampson (Lumbee, North Carolina) is a 33-year head coaching veteran at Houston, Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington State and Montana Tech. Sampson has compiled a 681-336 record during his career. He has led his teams to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 11 in 12 years with the Sooners from 1994 to 2006. During his Oklahoma tenure, he guided the Sooners to 10 consecutive 20-win seasons, the 1999 Sweet 16, the 2002 Final Four and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003. Sampson is one of only 15 coaches in NCAA history to lead 4+ schools to the NCAA Tournament. With the Cougars’ run to the 2021 NCAA Final Four, Sampson became one of only 16 coaches to lead multiple schools to the Final Four. In only seven seasons at Houston, Sampson is the only coach in school history to lead the Cougars to six consecutive 20-win seasons and became the second-winningest coach in program history during the 2020-21 season. He already ranks as the school’s career leader with a .723 winning percentage. In his career, he has been named a National Coach of the Year four times. Sampson has received six conference Coach of the Year awards from four different leagues and guided every program he has led to multiple 20-win seasons during his stints. As a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Sampson is the first and only Native American basketball coach to lead a program to the Final Four with the Oklahoma Sooners 2002 and Houston Cougars 2021.

< Back James Francis Thorpe James Francis Thorpe Sac and Fox Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 James Francis Thorpe was born near Prague, Oklahoma. He was born to Hiram Thorpe, a farmer, and Charlotte Vieux, a Pottawatomie Indian and descendant of the last great Sauk and Fox chief Black Hawk, a noted warrior and athlete. Jim was actually born a twin, but his brother Charlie died at the age of nine. His Indian name, Wa-Tho-Huk, translated to “Bright Path.” In 1904, Thorpe started school at Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania. Thorpe began his athletic career at Carlisle, both playing football and running track. He was selected as a third-team All-American in 1908, and in 1909 and 1910 he made the first team. Football legend Glenn “Pop” Warner coached Thorpe at Carlisle. Thorpe competed in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. He won the pentathlon and the decathlon and set records that would stand for decades. Thorpe’s glorious Olympic wins were jeopardized in 1913 when it surfaced that he had played two semi-professional seasons of baseball. Ultimately, it was decided that his baseball experience adversely affected his amateur status in the track and field events. His name was removed from the record books and his gold medals were taken away. Thorpe moved on after the Olympic ordeal and signed to play baseball for the New York Giants. He played outfield with New York for three seasons before playing with the Cincinnati Reds in 1917. He played 77 games with the Reds before finally returning to the Giants for an additional 26 games. In 1919, he played his final season in major league baseball, ending on the Boston Braves team. During much of his baseball years, Thorpe also played professional football for the Canton (Ohio) Bulldogs from 1915 until 1920 and with the Cleveland Indians in 1921. In the years following, he organized, coached and played with the Oorang Indians, a professional football team comprised of American Indians. Additionally, he was instrumental in forming the American Professional Football Association, and eventually became the president of the group. Through the years, the association evolved into today’s NFL. In all, Thorpe played with six different teams during his career in pro football, ending with a stint with the Chicago Cardinals in 1929. Two monumental honors were bestowed unto Thorpe in 1950 when he was named “the greatest American football player” and the “greatest overall male athlete” by the Associated Press. Thorpe died on March 28, 1953 of a heart attack. Thorpe’s medals were finally restored to him posthumously in 1982. In addition, and most importantly to his family, his name was put back into the record books. In 1950, the nation’s press selected Jim Thorpe as the most outstanding athlete of the first half of the 20th Century and in 1996-2001, he was awarded ABC’s Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Century. <Back

< Back Lew Boyd Lew Boyd Menominee Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Coach 2026 Working out of the backyard of the legendary boxing coach Alex Askenette on the Menominee Indian reservation, Lew Boyd started his amateur boxing career as a 112 lb. flyweight in 1965. From 1966 to 1970, Lew won his first open division Wisconsin Golden Gloves boxing championship in the featherweight (126 lb.) division, later in the junior welterweight (139 lb.) division and 147 lb. division earning trips to respective national tournaments. In 1970 he won the International Boxing League box-off in the 147 lb. division. In 1973, Lew Boyd retired from boxing competition with a 76-6 record and began training youth for competition. In 1984, Lew landed a spot on the U.S. State Department’s seven-man African coaching delegation. Under the auspices of the U.S. Information Agency, Boyd was chosen to assist six other U.S. coaches and boxing planners to establish coaches/training camps in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya. With their sights on the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California the seven man U.S. coach’s delegation trained 32 African nations for the 1984 Games. A break in games coverage saw Howard Cosell narrate a special segment on the African coaches/training camps held earlier that year. Upon his return from the African tour, Lew signed contracts with the United States Sports Academy out of Mobile, Alabama for 1984 and 1985. The Island of Borneo in Southeast Asia was Boyd’s first destination and he began training members of the Brunei Darussalam boxing squad. Honored to meet and shake hands with the Sultan of Brunei, Lew was later selected as head coach of the Brunei Olympic Boxing Team. Within six months, Boyd would become a member of the Nation of Brunei Olympic Committee. With assistance by the Nation of Brunei military, Brunei boxers won one silver medal and one bronze in the 1985 Southeast Asian Independence Games. Upon conclusion of the games, Lew Boyd would be voted by Brunei coaching peers as one of two coaches to receive the Brunei Cannon Award as the Most Promising Coach Award. In 1985, Lew also participated in Operation Gold training camps in Baguio, Philippines and assisted in training amateur boxers in Bangkok, Thailand and Jakarta, Indonesia. <Back

< Back Kiki Smith Kiki Smith Comanche Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Kiki Smith fell in love with basketball at a young age. Born Dec. 17, 2004, in Topeka, Kan., to Darold Smith and Harmony Burgess-Smith, Kiki had a ball in her hands as a soon as she could walk. A proud member of the Comanche Nation, Kiki played for Legendary Elite on the Native Basketball Circuit during her travel prep career. She remains an active part of the organization, speaking with youth players about playing at the collegiate level. Kiki is a Yellowfish descendant. Her heritage also includes the Kiowa, Cheyenne, Absentee Shawnee and Caddo tribes as well. Kiki played her high school ball at Topeka High School, where she was a four-time 6A All-State selection, garnering three first team nods, while also being named to the All-Centennial League Team all four years. Averaging over 20 points per game, while making nearly 50 3-pointers, in both her junior and senior campaigns, Kiki was tabbed the Centennial League Player of the Year. Kiki was not recruited heavily out of high school and spent her freshman season at Hutchinson Community College, where she rewrote the record books. Kiki guided the Blue Dragons to a perfect 37-0 record and the NJCAA DI National Championship. Averaging 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.7 steals per game, while shooting 55.9% from the field and 44.4% from distance on 82 made 3-pointers, Kiki was named the NJCAA DI Player of the Year and a First Team All-American, as well as the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Player of the Year. Kiki then transferred to Arkansas for her sophomore season, where she averaged 10.2 point per night. She ranked second in the SEC and 28th nationally with a 40.6% shooting clip from behind the arc. Following her lone season in Fayetteville, Kiki continued her athletic and academic career at Purdue. In her first season with the Boilermakers, she leads the team in scoring and ranks as one of the best 3-point shooters and passers in the Big Ten. <Back

Sagkeeng Old Timers Team 2024 Induction Category: Year Inducted <Back The Sakgeeng Oldtimers Hockey Club had its origins at the Sakgeeng First Nation, a community 100 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, with players ranging in age from 35 to over 50. The players were of Ojibway and Cree ancestry and came from native communities throughout Manitoba. The team was founded by Walter and Verna Fontaine. The first language of the team is Saulteaux, and the club wears the red and white colors of the Fort Alexander Indian Band. Sakgeeng is the Saulteaux word for “at the mouth of the river”, and the community of Sakgeeng (named Fort Alexander by fur traders) is at the mouth of the Winnipeg River where it empties into Lake Winnipeg. The team joined the Canadian Old Timers Hockey Association (COHA) in 1978 and played in international tournaments sponsored by COHA in Copenhagen, Denmark (1978); Toronto, Canada (1982); Munich, West Germany (1983); London, England (1984); Nice, France (1985); Paris, France (1986); Montreal, Canada (1987); and Montreal, Canada (1988). The teams won the 1983 World Cup in Munich, the 1987 World Cup in Montreal, and the 1988 COHA National Cup in Montreal. The Sakgeeng Old Timers were honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and artifacts for the teams are there on display. The roster of the teams included: Bob Boyer, Don Campbell, Paul Chartrand, Rene Desjarlais, Ted Fontaine, Dave Harper, John Hunter, George Kakeway, Gord Woo, Wayne Viznaugh, Phil Fontaine, Walter Fontaine, Norman Gunn, Bernie Wood, Ken Young, Jim Neilson, Mercel Flett, Joe Malcolm, Ron Guimond, Gerald Harry, Jim Prince, George Hickes and Rene Norma Ted Fontaine and Jim Neilson are also individually inducted in the athlete category in the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.

< Back Shiloh LeBeau Shiloh LeBeau Diné/Lakota Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Shiloh “Shy” LeBeau was born in Lawrence, Kansas on April 13th, 1989. She is half Navajo, Diné of the Honágháahnii clan and half Sans Arch Lakota of the Cheyenne River tribe. She lived on the Lakota Cheyenne River Indian reservation in Eagle Butte, South Dakota for a couple years then her mother relocated Shy and her sisters to Lawrence, KS where she currently resides raising her son. LeBeau boxed competitively since 2013 earning several prestigious awards, accolades and titles as well as making history for her family, Native Americans, the state of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University. While attending Haskell Indian Nations University from 2015 - 2018, she traveled to Ann Arbor, MI and competed in the 2015 United States National Intercollegiate Boxing Association tournament, bringing home a National Intercollegiate Boxing Title for the first time in history to the State of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University. She was the first full-time male or female college student to ever come out of the state of Kansas and achieve this success and in 2018 she went back and did it again at the University of Champaign-Urbana-Champaign, IL. LeBeau also serves as a Nike N7 Ambassador, an inspirational beacon in her community and that of the Native American and indigenous communities, She uses her platform as a positive resource to spread awareness on Native American and indigenous issues that plague native America as well as breaking through barriers, making history and fighting to knock out the stereotypes of what, who and how Native Americans, especially Native American women, are portrayed and represented in today's society. LeBeau travels to many states for motivational speaking and hosts boxing workshops at various Native American reservations, Schools, juvenile detention facilities, foster homes, military bases and other venues are the locations for LeBeau to motivate, inspire and provide mentoring services for youth to elderly, while encouraging them to live a healthier, happier life styles promoted through sport and exercise. LeBeau’s mission is to educate others about the real history of Native Americans, to bring recognition and awareness Native American and indigenous communities and to change the narrative of our people and our beautiful way of life. <Back

< Back Ronald Melchert Ronald Melchert Oneida Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Ronald Melchert hails from the Oneida Nation by the Green Bay of Lake Michigan. Ronald Melchert started training as a boxer in 1969, in the basement of the historic Parish Hall in Oneida, Wisconsin, coached by Matt Powless and coach Harold King. He participated in regional meets throughout Wisconsin and Illinois and became the first Heavyweight champion of the National Indian Boxing Association winning both in 1974 and 1975 in Reno, Nevada. Melchert is a Registered Landscape Architect who has owned his own business since 1982. His experience includes working on primarily Native American projects throughout the United States. Projects include Housing, Governmental Facilities, Community Facilities, Transportation projects, Master planning, Historical Facilities, Parks and Recreation, and Entertainment Facilities of Casinos and Hotels. Melchert’s professional practice and business spans 43 years. Melchert has served as a board member on several Minneapolis not profit organizations serving the inner city Native American community. Ronald is currently the board chairman of the Little Earth of United Tribes Inc., a low income section 8 housing project of 212 units. LEUTC is the only urban HUD project dedicated to specifically Native American residents in the United States. Melchert received an Associate of Arts in Architectural Technology from Madison Area Technical College in 1973, his Bachelor of Science Degree in Landscape Architecture in 1977 from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and a Master’s of Science in Leadership from Capella University in 2016. Melchert is married to Susan and has three children and seven grandchildren. <Back

Drew Bucktooth Category Athlete Tribe Oneida Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 2/3/1981 Drew Bucktooth is a lacrosse and hockey player from the Onondaga Nation in upstate NY. As a member of the Syracuse Stars hockey team he played against the highest level and won back to back state championships, a national championship and a world championship and was MVP of the world championship game. As a 16 year old, Drew was selected for the United States National team but was drafted and played in the OHL instead but still played for Team USA in international competitions and was named the team captain. In lacrosse, the first goal Drew ever scored was on his own goalie, but he made sure to do it correctly after that. As an eighth grader Drew led the varsity lacrosse team in scoring, as a ninth grader he led his league in scoring. As a 10th grader Drew once again led his team in scoring and earned All American, one of only two lacrosse players in NY state history to earn the title of All American as a 10th grader. When Drew was 15 he competed with the Iroquois Nationals in the U19 world lacrosse championships in Japan, although Drew was the youngest player there, he led the tournament in scoring and was named to the All World Team. A few years later the Lacrosse World Championships were held in Australia, and again Drew was named to the All World Team and has the distinction as the only person in history to make the U19 All World Team twice. As a member of the Onondaga RedHawks, his team captured the Presidents cup twice, which is the Canadian National box lacrosse championship. These days Drew can still be found in and out of hockey rinks and lacrosse fields coaching his four sons, Blake, Gavin, Dylan and Cruze. Home 2026 Banquet About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi <Back Diné (Navajo) Induction Category: Media Year Inducted 2022 Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi is a longtime storyteller from the Navajo Nation. She spent over a decade as sportswriter for the Navajo Times, telling stories of high school, college, and professional Navajo athletes. Clahchischiligi, a former athlete, developed an admiration for sports and storytelling at a young age. She completed six internships in three years, one at Sports Illustrated magazine in New York City. Clahchischiligi earned multiple awards for her writing in sports, editorial, community coverage, elder coverage, and investigative reporting. She wrote for the St. Cloud Times, the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Osage News, Searchlight NM, and the Salt Lake Tribune. From her extensive coverage of basketball on the Navajo Nation, she has been dubbed an expert in rezball, a fast-paced style of basketball played throughout Indian Country. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, to name a few. Clahchischiligi has a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico, a master’s degree in rhetoric, writing, and digital media studies from Northern Arizona University, and is currently a PhD candidate in rhetoric and writing at UNM. She also teaches composition in the English department.

Anishnabe Iskwewak Team 2025 Induction Category: Year Inducted <Back The Anishnabe Iskwewak broomball team was created in 2024 including only indigenous women from Quebec including Cree, Algonquin, and Atikamekw Nation as there are many talented broomball players within the indigenous communities from Quebec. Many of the players have been playing since the age of five years old until their adulthood as there are many tournaments that are held annually in each community. They are creating an image of unity within the indigenous communities from Quebec but also wanted to encourage physical and mental health within our indigenous women as some of the players are mothers. They hope to inspire the youth to continue to pursue their passion for their careers in broomball and there are many opportunities to look forward to even when you are an adult. The jersey logo was created by Angelina Wabanonik, an Algonquin community member from Anishnabe du Lac Simon. The logo was inspired by unity, and friendship. Also, added to the jersey to spread awareness was the little red dress for Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people (MMIWIG+2SLGBTQI). Anishnabe Iskwewak translated to English is “First Nation Women” although Anishnabe and Iskwewak is spelled in different ways for each language in Algonquin, Cree and Atikamekw it still has the same meaning for First Nation Women. Anishnabe Iskwewak attended the World’s Broomball Championship in Mont-Blanc, France on Oct 21-26, 2024, hosted by the International Federation of Broomball Association (IFBA) for the first time. Each player showed great commitment and dedication in working together to attend the tournament being held far from home, most travelling overseas for the first time. There were many obstacles, but the team was very optimistic even with 13 players. With their hard work and perseverance, the team finished the tournament by winning in overtime against Australia with the final score of 3-2 and winning the bronze medal game. Names on the team photo include the following. Top left: Lyne-Sue Kistabish, Hannah Swallow, Carla Lameboy, Kathleen Kistabish, Leonna Cheezo, Chelsea Kistabish, Katie Napash, and Janelle Stewart. Bottom left: Jessica Kistabish, Alicia WAwatie, Pearl Bearskin, Erika Wabanonik, and Eleanor Coonishish